7 replies to this topic

[ski3pin]

Here's an update to how I handled this. I originally wired up the tail light cable from the camper to a four prong plug that matched the factory tow wiring plug. This worked for our first two trips but I did not have the backup lights as there is no connection for them through the factory tow plug - pictured below. My original idea was to redo the tow plug with a five prong unit that I could tie into the backup light circuit. Two things I considered about this - changing the factory wiring and laying on my back under the truck. There was also the distraction at night of the light from the truck's tail lights shining on the inside edge of the camper. So I got to looking at the factory wiring harness at the back of the vehicle.

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[ski3pin]

The harness ends with a male connector to a female connector with a harness that divides and goes to both tail light assemblies. That connector is pictured in the photo below. I figured if I could wire the Ranger II camper tail light wires into a matching Ford factory female connector, when the camper is on the truck all I would need to do is disconnect the truck's tail light harness and plug in the camper's harness to the main harness. This would operate the camper tail lights and disconnect the truck's tail lights.

The parts I would need would be the tail light harness from a Ranger pickup from a recycle yard. Looked like a trip to Pick & Pull was in my future.

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[ski3pin]

I was able to find a 2001 ranger pickup to harvest a tail light harness from. One problem is the 2001 Ford uses a six wire tail light harness and my newer 2003 has a 5 wire harness. At least the connector used is identical in many Ford vehicles. I figured I could reassemble the wires in the connector to match my truck. That proved to be easy. I also was able to get a male connector to match the one on the truck's main harness. I wanted this for plugging the end of the unused tail light harness to keep dirt & moisture out. Pictured below is the Ford connector wired into the wires from the Ranger II camper.

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[ski3pin]

So here it is connected to the truck. You can see the female connector from the truck's tail light harness that I will plug with the male connector. It works! I have full operating tail lights with back up lights on the camper, the wiring in the truck is still factory, and when the camper is on the truck the covered truck's tail lights are disconnected. I will secure the camper cable neatly under the truck with cable ties. Parts at Pick & Pull cost me $8.00.

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[chnlisle]

Now see That I understand!!!

[pvstoy]

Pretty ingenious. Does the license plate light on the truck still light up?

[simimike]

Definitely KISS! I like it.

Mike

[ski3pin]

pvstoy, the license plate light and the tow lights connector exit the wiring harness prior to the end connector that I tap into so everything works.